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Sharp AR-M355U & M355N Review

For the medium-size business that needs a high-volume multifunction that can fax, scan and produce high-speed monochrome prints and copies, in 2004 Sharp released the AR-M355U and M355N digital imagers. Slower than the AR-M455 at speeds up to 35 ppm, the M355’s provides ledger-sized, 2-sided printing at 600 x 600 dpi resolution, simultaneous 2-sided scanning, and document security for sensitive information. The network-ready AR-M355N includes a 40GB hard drive, Ethernet, and PCL6 emulator. All of these features are available to the M355U as options.

Editor's Pros & Cons

PROS:

The primary control panel on the AR-M355 is the large LCD touch-screen display. This User Interface (UI) gives immediate access to popular functions, with additional menus for all of the AR-M355’s features. A traditional 10-key fax pad is provided along with the buttons most users are used to using with faxes.

Using either Parallel, the low-speed or high-speed USB connections, the AR-M355 can be set up to be a shared printer--provided the computer it’s connected to remains on during the hours the printer would get used. The expandable 128MB of memory allows the all-in-one to easily handle print jobs from many computers. The optional network kit is an available for the AR-M355U as an option for department-wide printing and remote faxing. AR-M355N owners get network capabilities right out the box.

The AR-M355 uses an oversized 11”x17” platen to support scanning ledger or tabloid-sized originals. By scanning the original once and storing the image into memory allows the AR-M355 to produce copies at the rate of 35 pages per minute, up to 999 copies.

The 50-sheet auto-doc feeder of the AR-M355 can automatically scan 2-sided originals and create 2-sided copies. What’s even more impressive is unlike many Duplex Automatic Document Feeders (DADFs) that have to pull the paper in twice to scan both sided, the AR-M355 has a top and bottom scanner, reducing scan time and paper feed jams.

Sizes from 5.5” x 8.5” up to 11” x 17” can be placed singly on the scanning platform, or up to 100 sheets placed on the multi-purpose flip-tray on the side of the copier. Adding the optional paper trays can expand the AR-M355 to supporting up to 3,100 sheets.

Another nice feature the AR-M355 has is the ability to physically shift the position of each set of copies in the output tray for easy collating and stapling. This is achieved by pressing the Electronic Sort (or E-Sort) button on the control panel. The multi-page original is scanned first into memory, and then copied out in order.

The AR-M355 has three different copy exposure modes & resolutions up to 1,200 x 600 dpi at 256 grayscale levels. The magnification can be automatically or manually changed from 25% to 400% in 1% increments or in 9 preset ratios.

Optional Two-tray or Saddle-stitch Finishers for 3-position stapling, center folding for catalogs, 50-sheet stapling capacity. Adding the optional fax kit will give the AR-M355 the ability to send a fax in 2 seconds at resolutions of 400 x 400 dpi with 256 halftone levels. 300 distribution lists and 500 auto-dial numbers can be programmed into the 2MB expandable memory.

Sharp has included HP PCL5c and PCL6 print emulators to satisfy the most office demands, with Adobe PostScript3 as an option. The AR-M355U also offers Adobe’s “PDF-Direct” print which enables PDF files to be sent directly to the machine for printing without opening an Acrobat application.

Three optional Finishers can give the AR-M355 full publishing features from stapling, 7-bin mail stacker, to saddle-stitch binding for catalogs and magazines.

To meet regulatory security requirements (i.e. HIPAA, GLB Act), Sharp offers auditing, restrictive network access, and confidential printing by way of assigned passwords. This is a standard with the M355N model and available as the network option for the M355U.

CONS:

Unfortunately, the software and the more sophisticated print features are only for Wintel machines. Sharp claims it support’s Mac pre-OS X versions, but in reality you need to be running Mac OS 10.3 and above to use the printing, network, and scanning applications native to OS X or through 3rd party applications, like Photoshop.

The AR-M355 has separated the high-volume toner and drum to help reduce overall consumables costs and maximize drum usage. Unlike smaller copiers and multi-functions, Sharp’s AR-M models don’t require much maintenance in consumables. The high-volume toner cartridge yields up to 35,000 pages. The drum unit is good for 200,000 pages and will need to be changed by the 6th toner replacement.